Two years ago RBC won a 2007 Canadian Information Productivity Award for its client reporting centre of excellence program, which was created to deal with the way bills, statements and other information is offered online. RBC worked with Symcor to create a common composition engine that draws raw data feeds relating to 18 different banking products from is core systems and offering them into a single form of reporting.

According to Colin McKay, vice-president of e-business architecture at RBC, the system has saved millions on paper statements and generated more revenue from optional fee-based services. The biggest benefit, however, may be a more personalized banking experience through a service called client preference and choice.

"Instead of you getting 18 different statements from the bank then we would be able to combine the information into whatever number of statements you would like to have," he said. "It also allows us to customize how that data goes together and then link that with our CRM systems and customize statement messages, marketing messages, and eventually over time we'll allow you to create whatever kind of statement you want."

When the electronic bill payment and presentment (EBPP) market emerged near the beginning of the decade, the choice for consumers came down to registering with a site like Canada Post's Epost, or making a specific visit to the bank's own portal. McKay said Facebook, MySpace and Twitter have changed all that.

"Obviously we would like clients to come to our Web site, but that's not always the client's preference would be," he said. "I think you're going to see a convergence between how we set up social networking groups within the bank's container vs. public social networking sites."